Sibling spotlight - billie and Finneas story

A quite night, A serious talk

Chapter: A Quiet Night, A Serious Talk

As the night deepened, a heavy silence filled the hospital room. Y/N had finally fallen asleep, her small frame nestled in the safety of Billie’s arms. Maggie sat nearby, her eyes never leaving her daughters, her heart aching for Y/N in ways words couldn’t capture. There was an odd comfort in the quiet, but it was brittle—ready to shatter at any moment.

Finneas and their dad, Patrick, stood in the hallway outside the room. The sterile, brightly lit corridor felt jarring compared to the stillness inside. Finneas’s jaw was clenched, his body still tense from earlier. He hadn’t fully calmed down, even though he knew he needed to. He looked up at his dad, knowing the conversation that had been avoided all night was inevitable now.

Patrick sighed heavily, leaning against the wall, the weight of the past few weeks visible in the lines of his face. “This isn’t something I ever thought we’d have to go through,” he said, his voice thick with the pain he’d been holding back.

Finneas nodded, his eyes dark with frustration. “It’s not fair. She’s just a kid.”

Patrick’s heart twisted at those words. “I know. She is.” He looked down the hallway, as if the answers to everything they were facing might be found in the emptiness. “But it’s not just about what happened to her. It’s about what happens now.”

Finneas glanced back toward the door to Y/N’s room. “I don’t know how to help her,” he admitted, his voice strained. “I want to do everything I can, but I feel useless. Like nothing I do is enough.”

Patrick placed a hand on Finneas’s shoulder, his grip firm but gentle. “You’re doing what you can, Finn. We all are. But this isn’t something we can fix overnight. Y/N… she’s going to need time. A lot of time.”

Finneas clenched his fists, his frustration boiling over. “Time. Right. I know that, but it doesn’t make it easier.” He stared at the ground for a moment, his voice growing softer. “Every time I look at her, I see what she’s lost. And it’s killing me.”

Patrick’s expression softened. “I know, son. I feel it too. But we can’t focus on what she’s lost. We have to focus on what we can give her now—safety, support, love.”

Finneas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I just don’t know how to deal with it. Every time I think about that man, I feel like I’m going to explode. The anger’s always there, just beneath the surface.”

Patrick nodded, understanding all too well. “I’m angry too. But we can’t let that anger control us. It’s not about us. It’s about Y/N. She’s the one who needs us to be steady, even when everything inside of us is screaming.”

Finneas looked up at his dad, his eyes full of questions he didn’t know how to ask. “How do you stay calm? How do you not lose it, knowing what she went through?”

Patrick hesitated, his eyes clouding with emotion. “I haven’t always stayed calm. There have been times… when I’ve wanted to fall apart. But when I look at her, at you and Billie, I know I can’t. I have to be strong. For all of you.”

Finneas swallowed hard, feeling the weight of his dad’s words sink in. “I just want her to be okay,” he whispered.

Patrick nodded, his voice soft but firm. “We all do. And she will be. It’s going to take time, but we’ll get there. We’ll help her get there.”

The two of them stood in silence for a moment, the quiet of the hospital pressing in on them. Finneas leaned back against the wall, staring at the floor, his thoughts racing. He had always looked up to his dad for his strength, but tonight he realized just how much weight that strength carried. It wasn’t about never feeling the anger or the fear—it was about learning to carry it without letting it destroy you.

After a long moment, Patrick spoke again, his voice low. “There’s something else we need to talk about.”

Finneas looked up, sensing the shift in his dad’s tone. “What is it?”

Patrick sighed, glancing back toward Y/N’s room as if he didn’t want to say the words. “We need to find out more about who did this to her. The police are still investigating, but Y/N might hold the key to identifying him.”

Finneas’s stomach churned at the thought. “She’s already been through so much,” he said, his voice tight. “Are they really going to make her relive it all again?”

Patrick shook his head. “They don’t want to push her, not until she’s ready. But at some point, they’ll need answers. And if Y/N’s scared of him… if she’s afraid of people who look like him…” He trailed off, the implication hanging in the air.

Finneas frowned, his mind racing. “You think she might have recognized something about him? Something familiar?”

Patrick’s face was grim. “It’s possible. We won’t know until she’s able to talk about it more. But for now, we need to give her space. Let her heal as much as she can before they ask her for more.”

Finneas nodded, his heart heavy. He didn’t want Y/N to have to dredge up any more painful memories, but he knew they needed answers. They needed justice for her, and if there was a way to bring the man who had done this to her to justice, he would do whatever it took.

“I just hope she’ll be okay when the time comes,” Finneas said quietly.

“She will be,” Patrick replied, though his voice held a trace of doubt, as if he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Finneas. “She’s stronger than we know.”

They stood there for a few more moments, the weight of everything hanging between them. Neither of them had all the answers, but at least they had each other—and that was a start.

Eventually, Finneas took a deep breath, pushing off the wall. “I should check on Billie and Mom,” he said, his voice steadier now.

Patrick nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll be out here if you need me.”

Finneas gave him a small, grateful nod before heading back toward Y/N’s room. As he opened the door quietly, he saw Billie sitting next to Y/N’s bed, still holding her, though her eyes were closed in exhaustion. Maggie was resting in the chair nearby, her hand lightly stroking Y/N’s hair, as if the touch alone could keep her safe.

Finneas stood in the doorway for a moment, watching them, the love and pain in the room intertwining in a way that felt almost unbearable. But as hard as it was, he knew one thing for sure: they would get through this. Together.

For now, that was all that mattered.